Page 24 of In Your Dreams, Holden Rhodes

If she was in trouble, what, Holden? What are you going to do? You’re nothing to her. You’re paying her to find you a wife, and that’s it.

Sadie lowered her voice and tilted her head to a table next to us. “What about her? In the black sweater.” She widened her eyes at me in emphasis. “She’s checking you out,” she sang.

The woman in the black sweater eyed Sadie with shy appreciation. A funny pressure bubbled up in my chest and my mouth twitched but I covered it by taking a pull of my beer.

I shrugged at Sadie. “She’s fine, I guess.”

She gave me a scolding look but her eyes danced. “You’re not even looking around. You’re looking at me. Come on, grumpy guy. Where’s that wife-hunting spirit?”

I narrowed my eyes. “It sounds weird when you say it like that.”

She winced and nodded. “It sounds weird no matter how I say it, because itisa little weird.” She wrenched around to her bag and pulled out her phone. “Time for the fun interview.”

“Oh, joy,” I muttered, which made her smile.

“Question one. What kind of woman do you see yourself with?”

I blew another long breath out. Fuck if I knew. “I don’t know.” I raked my hand through my hair. “Somebody who has their own career and passions.”

She lit up. “Great. That rules out all the sugar babies who want to use you for sex and money.”

I choked on my beer and she handed me a few napkins.

“That also rules out Belinda the Inflatable Sex Goddess,” she admitted with a teasing grin. “I’ll break the news to her. What else?”

“Um.” I glanced around the bar. Women were still eyeing Sadie. “Somebody who doesn’t talk much.”

She snorted. “I’m not writing that down. What else?”

I pictured a woman in my home. “It would be nice if she liked to spend time in the kitchen.”

Sadie’s eyebrow rose.

“Not in aserving her husbandway.” I was fucking this all up. This just reinforced her view that I was an asshole. “It would be nice to be with someone who likes to cook, because I can’t.” I swallowed more beer. “But I’m happy to clean up after.”

She made a note on her phone. “Good save.”

I let out a half-laugh. “Thanks.”

I thought about Hannah and Wyatt. “Someone who wants kids.”

She nodded and wrote it down.

“Someone from here, or someone who plans to stay here for a while.”

Sadie’s gaze flicked up with a question behind her eyes.

“I don’t want to move. My business is here, my home and family are here, and I like it here.” I shrugged. “I don’t want to move.”

“What about hobbies?” She polished off the last of her margarita.

I stared at her.

She stared back at me. “Fun things, Holden. What do you do on weekends?”

“Work. Gym. Family stuff. The bar.”

She blinked and her brow wrinkled. “Where do you go on vacation?”

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